Tod's Driving Moccasins

I've been meaning to pick up a pair of Tod's driving moccasins for some time now. Since I don't really do much driving,  I always put off the purchase with the rationalization that it would make more sense to pick up a pair of shoes that I could wear regularly. 


A few weeks ago, there was a sale near near my office in midtown, so I decided to drop in and see if there was anything that caught my eye. As it turned out, I ended up purchasing 3 pairs for my wife, but I did come away with a nice pair of tan suede gommini mocs.

Tod's shoes are made in Cassette d'Ete in Italy, the town where Tod's CEO Diego Della Valle was born. While the company talks up the more than 100 steps involved in making a pair of shoes, most of those involve quality control precautions.

As Simon Crompton pointed out a few weeks ago on his blog Permanent Style, Tod's driving shoes are handmade in most respects. A layer of rubber nubbins is inserted through the leather body of the shoe; an internal rubber layer is then added on top followed by a leather insole. The vamp is sewn by hand around the front with the remainder of the stitching done by hand-guided machine.

It should be noted that the sizing on Tod's shoes is interesting, to say the least. The shoes come in European sizes, so you should generally plan on sizing up a full size. That being said, I'm normally a US 10D, or UK 9.5E in most English shoes, but occasionally a UK 9E, depending on the last. These shoes, however, were a EU 7, US 8. Go figure - but if ordering online, you'll want to know your size in Tod's shoes prior to ordering.

Of course, with the gommini, I won't be wearing these everyday, but I think the tan suede will work well with denim or shorts. Now to schedule a few long drives for the spring and summer . . .

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Post script:  I know this purports to be a "men's style" blog, but bear with me for one moment, or just shield your eyes for two seconds. Rightly or wrongly, I generally associate  the Tod's brand with men's shoes and women's handbags. However, the women's shoes are beautiful. I literally could not decide on a pair for my wife, so ended up leaving with 3 pair for her. Unfortunately, I only have a few iPhone pictures of those,  but just to give you a sense of the craftsmanship involved. Each pair have the distinctive Tod's gommini above the heel.